Pyrotechnic Performance

If any of you have ever been to a Canada Day celebration, or a Stampede, I am sure you have had the opportunity to see the pyrotechnics show that is on display at the celebration.  A pyrotechnics show is a show that involves the use of fire, explosives, etc.  A simple match is an example of a pyrotechnics reaction.  Fireworks are probably the most common example of a pyrotechnics show and I feel it is pretty safe to say that everyone has seen fireworks at some point in their life.


Last night, our family had a pyrotechnics show of your own.  No we weren't celebrating, we were just trying to clean up from last winter and get the fields ready for seeding.  So here is what happened.  Before the cows started to calve in late February/early March, my family was feeding them in a field of ours where they were cleaning up a bit of swath grazing.  

Some of our cows swath grazing

Note: Swath Grazing- Is a process that farmers use which allows cattle to continue grazing a field later into the winter months.  The farmer cuts a cereal crop (wheat, barley, oats) in September, allowing swathing just before the ground freezes, but allowing for the crops to be cut when they are at the green and leafy stage so that they are easier for cattle to eat and they won't have to worry as much about rot and mold.  The farmer cuts the field, and leaves the swath lying down on the ground.  This swath is what the cows will feed on once the snow comes. By using swath grazing the farmer is able to extend their grazing season and reduce winter feed costs, as well as less corral cleaning and time spent feeding.  There are also environmental benefits that come with swath grazing such as residue and manure management.  The cattle will be covering the entire plot of the field, they will not be all  in one spot for months, and this helps to spread the manure across the land, and prevents there being an accumulation in just one spot, such as a corral.  With swath grazing the farmer sets up fences to control the area in which the cattle are allowed to eat in.  We want to make sure that the cattle are not given too many swaths to eat from at a time so that they utilize the feed as best they can and none goes to waste.  When the cows are finished grazing a plot, the fence is moved so that more swaths are uncovered.  And a really cool fact is that cows can still swath graze even after there is snow! Cows are able to dig through two feet of soft snow to find their meal!

A few of our cows taking a walk to the bedding at sunset

So now that you know about swath grazing I will finish with my story.  On the plot that we had had some of the cows swath grazing on, we had been bedding them and feeding them some hay as the swath graze got to a minimal.  There was some left over straw and hay that my grandfather wanted to burn off of the field to clear the soil and clean up the plot of land.  It seems that every year he starts a fire somewhere, whether it be a brush pile or some old straw bales.  His controlled burns, as any, are beneficial to the land as they help enrich the soil, make the soil tougher against erosion, and cause a greater uptake of rain water, this also helps us to maintain the biodiversity in our soil.


Well this time the fire got pretty large, and last night as my mom was washing the dishes she looked down our land a couple quarters and noticed some fairly large, red flames.  We had started the burn early that morning, so there shouldn't have been any flames left.  Apparently, the fire decided to continue the burn across the field, not just in the area that we had planned it to stay.  It jumped the barrier that had been set out.  Thankfully enough the creek halted the fire from going any further, and my dad got a pretty good workout digging a fire wall around the other side of the smoldering mess.  Thankfully nothing was ruined, no fences were touched, and no buildings.  But on the bright side, we did have a pretty large pyrotechnics show for a short while.  And trust me, on this farm, that wasn't the first time I have seen fires like that!
  
So there you have it.  Hopefully I was able to teach you a little bit about swath grazing, as well as caution you to watch your fires or else you may have your own pyrotechnic performance!!


Have a good weekend all!


<3 Sam